For the next 3 weeks, America will watch 64 teams whittle down to 32, 16, an Elite 8, a Final 4, and then — at last — the NCAA Division I men’s basketball champion.
Billions of dollars will be wagered. Far less will be won.
But why root for Kansas, Duke or UConn (or Grand Canyon, Northern Kentucky or Vermont) when you can cheer for Compo Beach, Gold’s or the Remarkable Book Shop?
Welcome to “06880”‘s first-ever “Westport Madness.”
The goal is simple: find the most quintessential thing in our town.
And you — our readers — are the ones who will do it.
I came up with 16 pairings (unlike March Madness, there are no seedings). My trusty sidekick — Staples High School sophomore Luca Caniato — created the graphics, and a voting system that’s even more secure than Dominion.
Click on or hover over to enlarge.
To vote, just click here. Then scroll down for each match-up. (Don’t forget to click “Submit” at the end!)
Each round of voting lasts 48 hours. Winners, and an updated bracket, will be posted soon after voting ends.
So look over each bracket. Select the “most Westport” choice for each. Click here to vote.
Let the games begin!
(If you enjoy features like this, please support “06880.” Click here to donate. Thank you!)
Posted onApril 11, 2019|Comments Off on Staples Books Its Own March Madness
Last year, as Villanova battled its way through March Madness to the NCAA basketball championship, the Staples High School English department conducted its own bracket.
To Kill a Mockingbird beat out fellow Final 4 contenders Pride and Prejudice, The Diary of Anne Frank and 1984 to win the first-ever Favorite Book Ever tournament.
Mary Katherine Hocking
‘Nova did not repeat as 2019 champs. Nor did Harper Lee’s classic novel.
In the case of the Wildcats, they weren’t good enough. But for the books, they changed the rules.
This year’s contest — organized by teachers Mary Katherine Hocking and Rebecca Marsick, with help from Tausha Bridgeforth and the Staples library staff — was for Best Book to Movie Adaptation.
Thirty-two contenders were chosen. Voting was done online. Large bracket posters near the English department and library kept interest high.
As always, there were surprises. Some classic book/film combinations — like The Godfather — fell early. Others that Hocking expected to be less popular (Twilight, Little Women) battled hard.
The field ranged far and wide, from Romeo and Juliet and Gone With the Wind to Lord of the Flies and Frankenstein.
Hocking’s email updates to students and staff were fun to read. Before the final — after Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone crushed The Hunger Games, and The Princess Bride edged The Help — she wrote: “The moment we’ve all been waiting for! Westley versus Weasley, Vizzini versus Voldemort, Humperdinck versus Hermione.”
We’ll let Hocking announce the winner.
She wrote:
The Princess Bride has taken a rogue bludger to the head, losing to Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. With a final score of 94-49, this year’s House Cup, Quidditch World Cup, Triwizard Cup all go to Harry Potter and Queen JK.
Remember, one can never have enough socks, and one can never have enough books to fill the time. Please check out any or all of these books from your local library as we head into spring break.
She and Marsick are already planning next year’s contest.
Wahoo!
Comments Off on Staples Books Its Own March Madness
Earlier this month Villanova, Michigan, Kansas and Loyola held America spellbound, as they battled for the NCAA Division I men’s basketball championship.
But that was nothing compared to the halls of Staples High School. There, it was a fight to finish for the first-ever title of Favorite Book Ever.
Who would win? Weeks of voting had whittled 64 contenders down to the Final Four: Fahrenheit 451, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, The Great Gatsby and To Kill a Mockingbird.
Just like in San Antonio, the semifinals produced an intriguing mix of old standbys and surprising newcomers. Some top seeds won; others advanced through upsets.
The contest was organized by Mary Katherine Hocking. A few years ago, the English teacher saw a similar idea on Pinterest.
Those choices may be less controversial than that used by the NCAA selection committee.
Or more. There are a lot more great books than good Division I men’s basketball teams.
The top 4 seeds were — in order — To Kill a Mockingbird, Pride and Prejudice, The Diary of Anne Frank and 1984.
Like the NCAA’s tournament, the rest of the field was all over the map. The Old Man and the Sea, Huck Finn, Night, Hamlet, The Giver, Frankenstein, Catch-22, The Handmaid’s Tale, The Color Purple, Anna Karenina, Lord of the Flies — all (and dozens more) had a chance to advance.
Game on!
Hocking sent email blasts to students and staff. She used Twitter and Instagram too. The Staples library’s Twitter feed, the TV show “Good Morning Staples,” the school paper Inklings, and colleague Rebecca Marsick’s Instagram also helped spread the word.
Hocking had no idea who would respond. It was, she admits, a somewhat nerdy concept. But votes poured in.
Each round drew more interest. In addition to regular email updates from Hocking, an enormous bracket in the English hallway stirred plenty of conversation.
“Students seemed really engaged,” she says. “They were eager to find out what was next.”
She expected the Lord of the Rings trilogy to advance far. It’s a popular book (and film) series. But it fell in the Sweet 16 to Fahrenheit 451.
“That was a surprise,” Hocking says. “Far fewer kids have read that one.”
From the first round on, To Kill a Mockingbird was the team to beat. It kept winning, by huge margins.
Favorites, of course, don’t always win.
But Harper Lee’s 58-year-old novel about prejudice and integrity in a small Southern town knocked off the much more recent Harry Potter fantasy.
That set up a highly anticipated championship match, between 2 American classics: Mockingbird and The Great Gatsby.
Did F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Westport connection propel him to victory? Or, in these days of great focus on racial inequality, did Staples voters go with that dramatic tale?
And the winner is ……………….
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To Kill a Mockingbird.
It’s a worthy champion.
But it won’t be back to defend its title next year.
Unlike basketball Final Four, Hocking is looking for 64 entirely new contenders.
Perhaps the best young adult books of all time? Or the best non-fiction works?
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